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Find out everything that happened at Savannah-Chatham public school board meetings and much more from local schools

Posted October 7, 2012 01:09 am

What else happened at the October 3, 2012 meeting of the Savannah-Chatham Public School Board?

SAT & ACT deja vu

Wednesday the Savannah-Chatham Public School Board was presented with the results of the 2012 SAT and ACT exams, which most colleges and universities use for admissions purposes.

District officials discussed why local averages on the SAT dropped from 1322 to 1300, placing Savannah-Chatham students 152 points behind the state and 198 behind the nation. Outcomes on the ACT increased slightly from 18.1 to 18.2. That’s 2.5 points below the state and 2.9 below the nation.

Frustrated board members complained that the low scores put students at a disadvantage and made them look bad. It was the same conversation that takes place every year when SAT and ACT scores are released.

Administrators said over the last several years a 54% increase in test takers – primarily students from low income, non-college-educated or non-English speaking families- has made it difficult for the district to make great gains on the tests.

Some board members wanted to know if those students could be steered away from taking the tests, or at least advised to wait until they’ve taken preparation courses. “I honestly believe we have students who are taking these tests who don’t need to be taking these tests,” said board member Lori Brady.

“Can we say if you are going to take the SAT or the ACT you must take these courses,” board member Shawn Kachmar asked. “Can we say you should?”

Superintendent Thomas Lockamy said all students can succeed on either test if properly prepared and pledged to make sure that happens.

The Savannah-Chatham Public School Board unanimously passed a resolution opposing the upcoming charter school amendment vote.

In November Georgians will vote on a state constitutional amendment that, if approved, will allow state legislators to create an agency for authorizing and funding charter schools. Board members were careful to point out their support for locally authorized charter schools – they approved two charter schools being considered for recommendation by the state board of education and listened to the annual reports of two existing charter schools Wednesday. But they said the proposed Charter amendment will negatively impact the existing public education system and open the door to charter schools with no local oversight.

Here are links to the resolution and the two charter school annual reports:

District officials presented a prioritized list of academic technology they’d like to purchase for each school with ESPLOST II education sales tax funds.

The $27.64 million list was prioritized based on what they weren’t able to purchase during ESPLOST I, conversations with teachers, principals and administrative staff. But the list of high priority needs doesn’t provide a true picture of the technology schools have. Several schools are high on the list because they don’t have very many district purchased computers per student. However those schools may have large numbers of computers, iPads and other technology donated by business partners, and parent groups.